The European Parliament on Tuesday handed down a 30-day salary sanction on a Polish lawmaker who made headlines for his inflammatory sexist remarks justifying a gender pay-gap by suggesting women were weaker and less intelligent than men.

Not only is MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke to miss a month's salary, worth 9,000 euros ($9,500), but he was also banned from parliamentary activities, although he can still vote for 10 days.

Korwin-Mikke was further prohibited from representing the European Parliament at international fora.

During a March 1 debate at the European Parliament, the far-right nationalist Polish member said: "Do you know how many women there are among the best 100 chess players? I'll tell you: None. And of course, women must earn less than men, because they are weaker, they are smaller, they are less intelligent."

His sexist remarks were immediately countered by Spanish socialist MEP Iratxe García, who said: "I know that it hurts and bothers you that nowadays we women can represent citizens on an equal footing with you. I'm here to defend European women from men like you."

European Parliament's President Antonio Tajani opened an investigation into the remarks and apologised to all the lawmakers in the chamber.

Korwin-Mikke has a long history of controversial statements and bizarre behaviour designed to grab headlines, said the report.

He has previously been suspended in 2012 for using a highly-offensive racial slur aimed at black people and again in 2015 for giving a Nazi salute during a speech to protest a uniform transport ticket for the EU.

--IANS

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